The Giants made Labor Day at Oracle Park a little longer than they wanted, but they still walked off with a 5-4 win over the Cardinals thanks to Shay Whitcomb in the 11th inning.
Whitcomb’s game-winner came on a high chopper to the left side of the infield, enough to let Nate Furman race home from third with the deciding run. Furman had reached third on Drew Cavanaugh’s sacrifice bunt, setting the table for the final swing.
It was the second straight day the Giants had coughed up a late lead, and this one nearly slipped away in the ninth. San Francisco went into that inning up 3-2, only to watch Joshua Báez and Thomas Saggese open with back-to-back singles and immediately put Dylan Smith under pressure.
Nathan Church’s sacrifice bunt attempt resulted in the first out, but Bryan Torres walked to move the tying run to third. José Fermín then came off the bench and tied it with a sacrifice fly.
The Giants answered in the bottom half, though they couldn’t finish the job there either. Jung Hoo Lee chopped a single into left to start the inning, then Whitcomb followed with another single to left that moved Lee into scoring position. Christian Koss drew an eight-pitch walk to load the bases, but Turner Hill flied out to end the threat.
St. Louis grabbed the lead in the 10th when Leo Bernal punched a bloop single to right, just in front of Lee, to bring home Alec Burleson and make it 4-3.
With the automatic runner in place, the Giants turned to the middle of their order. Rafael Devers was intentionally walked after Riley O’Brien fell behind 3-1, and Bryce Eldridge made the Cardinals pay again with a tying single, just like he did in last week’s Wednesday’s game against the Pirates.
After Jonah Cox sacrificed both Devers and Eldridge into scoring position, the Cardinals intentionally walked Lee to load the bases for Drew Gilbert. That move worked out for a moment.
Gilbert chopped one in front of home plate, and Bernal handled it cleanly, stepped on the plate for the force, then flipped to first for the inning-ending 2-3 double play. San Francisco challenged, but the call stood.
The Giants finally broke through in the 11th after Jason Foley held the Cardinals scoreless in the top half in his second inning of work.
Logan Webb, meanwhile, gave San Francisco exactly what it needed over six innings: one run, eight strikeouts and two walks. It was a strong response after what Webb called the worst start of his career, when he gave up a career-high nine runs in just two innings.
He also struggled on Aug. 21 against the Boston Red Sox, allowing five runs in 2 2/3 innings. Even after Monday’s solid outing, his ERA sits at 4.10.
Devers stayed hot with two doubles, two walks and an RBI. Eldridge drove in three runs, doing his damage with a sacrifice fly and a double.
The Giants opened the scoring in the first when Devers doubled to right-center to drive in Turner Hill, who had walked to lead off the inning. The ball traveled 402 feet and would have been a homer in every other major league park. Eldridge added the next two runs, first lifting a sacrifice fly in the third to score Christian Koss, then doubling in Devers in the fifth.
The Cardinals got on the board in the sixth on Alec Burleson’s 431-foot solo shot into McCovey Cove, the 72nd Splash Hit by an opponent in Oracle Park history. St. Louis had more brewing after Jordan Walker walked, but Eldridge ended the inning by snagging Leo Bernal’s 102 mph liner.
Before the game, the Giants optioned rookie right-hander Braxton Roxby to Triple-A Sacramento and recalled left-hander Philip Abner. Abner, 24, has thrown 18 major league innings over the last two seasons, allowing 12 runs for a 6.00 ERA with 11 strikeouts and 11 walks.
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